Fantasticks, The

Harvey Schmidt

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Subtitle: Overture for Concert Band

General Info

Year: 1966
Duration: c. 8:45
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Chappell Music
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

Condensed Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Bells
Chimes
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle
Vibraphone
Wood Block
Xylophone (or Marimba)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play The Romancers (Les Romanesques) by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into falling in love by pretending to feud.

The show's original Off-Broadway production ran a total of 42 years and 17,162 performances, making it the world's longest-running musical. It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1991. The poetic book and breezy, inventive score, including such familiar songs as Try to Remember, helped make the show so durable.

Two houses are separated by a wall (portrayed by a mute actor) in an unspecified American town. A mysterious bandit, El Gallo, tells about the kind of September "when love was an ember about to billow." He begins to narrate the plot of the play. Two young people, Matt and Luisa, live next door to each other and fall in love. However, their fathers are feuding and order them not to speak to each other.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

This overture arrangement of tunes from The Fantasticks includes Try to Remember, Pick a Radish, Soon It's Gonna Rain and They Were You.

Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Kishwaukee Concert Band (DeKalb, Ill.) (Dave Lehman, conductor) – 22 October 2017

Works for Winds by This Composer

The Fantasticks (arr. Reed) (1966)
My Cup Runneth Over (arr. Osterling) (1967)
Try to Remember (arr. Edmondson)

Resources

The Fantasticks, Wikipedia Accessed 22 October 2017
Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Harvey Schmidt." Accessed 22 October 2017
Schmidt, H.; Jones, T.; Reed, A. (1966). The Fantasticks: Overture for Concert Band [score]. Chappell: New York.